Anthony Reyes

PITCHER ANALYSIS – ANTHONY REYES

AN ANALYSIS OF ANTHONY REYES’ PITCHING MOTION & MECHANICS

12/16/2005

Last Updated 10/16/2006

Chris O’Leary

www.chrisoleary.com

Copyright © 2006 Chris O’Leary General Comments About Anthony Reyes ● RHP ● 6’2” ● 215 lbs. ● Pitches… Primary... 2-Seam Fastball (Average = 90MPH, Range = 88MPH to 91 MPH). Changeup (Average = 76MPH, Range = 76MPH to 77 MPH). □ Circle Change. □ May be a hybrid of a change-up and a curveball. Secondary/Developing... Curveball/Slider. Cut Fastball. ● Injuries… Has had chronic problems with injuries. Never completely healthy in last two years at USC. □ Tendonitis in elbow (Fall 2001 and Spring 2002). Sore elbow while at USC (Spring 2002). “Strained joint” in shoulder in (2005).

Comments About Anthony Reyes’ Pitching Motion And Mechanics ● 12/16/2005 Anthony Reyes’ pitching motion and mechanics remind me of Mark Prior’s motion (which is a bad thing). Probably no coincidence that he went to USC. □ They have a relationship with Tom House, who is Mark Prior’s guru. I believe that, because of his mechanics, he will break down as soon as the Cardinals put a significant load on him. I believe he may become the Cardinals’ Mark Prior. □ Promising with flashes of brilliance, but riddled with injury problems. ● 2/28/2006 Anthony Reyes appears to stiffen his glove-side (GS) knee before the Release Point.

Injury Risk Rating = Worse Than Average

Dr. Mike Marshall’s Comments About Anthony Reyes “I especially liked the hooked pitching arm just before he started his Late Pitching Forearm Turnover (frame 2.1). I'll bet he has a doozy of a Reverse Pitching Forearm Bounce. You nailed the supinated position of his pitching forearm at release (frame 5.1). The head turn on the previous picture (frame 4.1) shows how stressful his Pitching Forearm Flyout is. In order to pull his pitching upper arm forward, he has to shorten the muscles that rotate his head. The picture of his release point shows that he has to do the same thing when he throws his fastball (frame 5.2). Even though he is trying to pronate the release of his fastball, he still slams the olecranon process of his pitching elbow into its fossa. That he cannot fully straighten his pitching elbow shows that he has already lost significant degrees of elbow extension in his pitching elbow, which means that he has also lost significant degrees of elbow flexion.” 1. 1 2

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12/15/2005: Anthony Reyes has his pitching arm side elbow both behind and above his shoulders in frame 2.1, which I believe has contributed to his shoulder problems. Also Hooking the ball in frame 2.1. This will accentuate his Reverse Pitching Forearm Bounce and likely has contributed to his elbow and shoulder problems. This is a classic Tom House pose (very similar to Mark Prior) with the upper arms level with the shoulders and the forearms hanging down vertically. Anthony Reyes seems to do it more (see frame 2.1) than does Mark Prior (see frame 2.2), which may explain why Anthony Reyes’ elbows problems have appeared sooner. Other pitchers who have done this, and who have had serious shoulder problems, include Don Drysdale (frame 2.3) and Paul Byrd (frame 2.4).

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3/5/2006: Frame 3.1, which was taken on 3/2/2006, is the first one I have seen of Anthony Reyes’ pitching motion during the 2006 season. What I see troubles me, given that his elbows are both above and behind his shoulders. I believe this will cause Anthony Reyes to experience problems with his Rotator Cuff.

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3/9/2006: Anthony Reyes’ GS knee in frame 4.1 seems much stiffer than GS knee in frame 4.2. I wonder if this represents an attempt to gain more velocity (but at the cost of raising his injury risk).

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12/15/2005: Effort required to turn his shoulders jerks his head off the target. May make him vulnerable to control problems. Anthony Reyes may be trying to throw too hard with his shoulders and his arm rather than with his body. This may be related to the fact that Anthony Reyes leaves his PAS foot behind on the rubber, which may limit and prematurely stop the rotation of his hips.

3/6/2006: Elbow has extended through the Danger Zone and his forearm is still quite supinated. This would tend to increase the load on his UCL.

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12/15/2005: Just about to release the ball in frame 6.1. Extremely supinated while throwing curveball. This is terrible for his elbow and probably helps to explain his continual injury problems.

3/6/2006: Anthony Reyes’ head seems to jerk to the right while he is throwing his fastball but not while throwing his curveball. This could act as a “tell” and tip off what pitch he is throwing.

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RELEASE POINT. 12/15/2005: Very flat arm slot. Head is still looking off to the side. At least his GS knee doesn’t seem to be completely locked.

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12/15/2005: Pronating, but probably too late to protect his elbow.

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3/6/3006: Anthony Reyes’ PAS toe doesn’t seem to have moved much off the rubber, which may limit how much his hips can turn.

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